MRS. ARROYO FACES UPHEAVEAL FROM AN AWAKENED PUBLIC – BINAY

PRESS RELEASE
AUGUST 5 2009
REF: JOEY SALGADO

Makati Mayor and United Opposition (UNO) president Jejomar C. Binay today said the Arroyo administration should see the massive outpouring of grief over the death of former president Corazon Aquino as a warning that it faces a “political upheaval” should it push through with its agenda of clinging to power beyond 2010.

The opposition leader said Aquino’s death has led to the political awakening of a new generation of Filipinos.

“Cory’s death has awakened the people. She has bridged the generation that took part in EDSA 1 with the younger generation who are now aware that the freedom they enjoy was earned through struggle against a dictatorship,” he said.

“I am certain that if Mrs. Arroyo pushes through with her selfish agenda, the spirit of Cory Aquino will rally the people,” he said.

Binay added: “Mrs. Arroyo faces a political upheaval if she goes through with her plans.”

Binay said Cory Aquino stood up against the martial law regime, fought for clean and honest elections, and stood for morality and transparency in government when she became president.

In 2005, Aquino openly called for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo over the “Hello Garci” scandal which unmasked massive fraud in the 2004 presidential elections. She also led protest action against the declaration of a state of emergency in January 2006 and the NBN-ZTE scandal.

“The younger generation got a crash course in contemporary history. In a span of four days, they learned how difficult life was under a dictatorship, and how our freedom was earned with the sacrifice of so many lives, among them Cory’s husband Ninoy Aquino,” he said.

“By her example, Cory showed the people the importance of standing up against an oppressive, corrupt and power hungry regime. She showed us that even as a private citizen, we can and should stand up for what is right,” he added.

Moves are pending in Congress to amend the Constitution through a Constituent Assembly (Con Ass), and there are persistent reports of a plan to declare a state of emergency and even martial law.

Binay had said these moves are part of Mrs. Arroyo’s scheme to cling to power beyond 2010.